Aug 2, 2015

Dried radish can be found in major Asian grocery stores, you can even try to DIY this Taiwanese preserved food if the weather allows.

Basically the fresh radish needs to be cut into strips or smaller chunks, squeeze and cure with salt then sun dried for one day. Some people prefer to sun dried the radish first before curing them in salt. Use a heavy object, perhaps a rock or a brick to put on top of the radish to drive out excess liquid. Discard the liquid and sun dried the radish one more day. Repeat the steps depending on personal preference and most of the time, the weather.

I simply use store bought organic dried radish in small chunks for this recipe. The final dish serves as a good condiment for Taiwanese stewed pork rice, curry rice, and goes exceptionally well when mixed with dry noodles.

Taiwanese dried radish and salted black beans stir fry -

Ingredients?

2 cups dried radish

1/4 cup salted black beans

2 red chilies

4 garlic cloves

3 tablespoons dried shrimps

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1 stalk scallion (optional, if plan to keep in the fridge for a longer period then skip this ingredient for quality assurance)

How?

Rinse the dried radish or soak for 5 to 10 minutes to remove excess salt. Drain and pat dry well, chop into tiny chunks if using strip shaped dried radish.Rinse then soak the dried shrimps in cold water for 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and pat dry well. Chop into tiny pieces. Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves. Discard the chili stems and finely chop the remaining.Drizzle some olive oil to the pan and add in chopped shrimps. Turn to medium heat and sprinkle some black pepper. Cook till the mixture starts to bubble and the shrimps turned slightly darker color.

Add in garlic and chilies. Also add in finely chopped scallion if applicable. I plan to store half of this stir fry dish in the freezer so decided not to use scallion since it tends to change color and taste after a period of time. Cook till the garlic is about to get burned, add in radish and turn the heat up a little, cook for 30 seconds. Add in salted black beans and give it a quick stir. Cook for another minute or two.

I also skip adding a small spoonful of granulated sugar to balance off the saltiness. The high quality salted black beans used here already carry some natural sweetness taste. As a result, there's no need to add more seasonings, just let the ingredients speak for themselves.